Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Spring Quilt... Two Stitches Forward, One Stitch Back

If this quilt had been a baby, it would have been born breech, because it was a difficult quilt to birth.


Don't ask me why, as I have no idea. The piecing was a simple piece of cake, and the quilting should have been as well, but for every two stitches I took, another one had to be ripped out.


If it could go wrong it did. Broken threads, mysteriously faulty tensions, me getting off track from spacing out, (or more like glazing over in pure fatigue).


It was a true exercise in going with the flow, and keeping my sense of humor, (which at times I didn't do so well with. Good thing it's winter and the windows are closed, otherwise the neighborhood kiddies riding their tricycles outside may have been somewhat traumatized by hearing the slew of profanity flying from my mouth.) Maybe it was just the universe's way of reminding me that as much as I might wish it to be spring, it's the dead of winter and I better just except that!


But seeing as this quilt is suppose to be a celebration of spring, I tried to quilt it as such. Stitching horizontal points above to represent blades of grass, and straight rows below to represent the farmer plowing the field behind our house.


The majority of the quilt is stitched all over in my new favorite wavy stitch to represent the fluttery path of butterflies, and new growth emerging from the awakening garden beds.


Remember the piece of yellow from my previous post, that I had hacked off the front when piecing the top? Well, waste not, want not. It survived and was added to the back of the quilt!


I am happy to say the pain and frustration was all worth it in the end as I am very pleased with the final outcome, (but I am keeping my fingers crossed the next project goes more smoothly!)

Spring Quilt is currently available in my Silly BooDilly shop.

26 comments:

Two Dogs and a Quilt said...

So frustrating, kind of like wintertime in general. But it looks like a fresh bit of Spring and the quilting gives it so much interest.

T.Allen said...

The quilt is lovely! I'm a potty mouth by nature and make little effort to curb it, but my few attempts at sewing surprised even me!

I'm glad it all turned out well for you, looking forward to spring and the next creation.

jacquie said...

i admire how you think about everything in your quilt. no wonder they are so great. worth every foul word!!

shellysquilts said...

Victoria, This quilt looks like it was worth all the swearing and frustration. It looks wonderful! I hope you have better luck on your next project. Happy Quilting!

Janis said...

It looks fabulous, one would never guess it was anything but a charm for you to complete. I love to hear your quilts' stories, they give them life.

xoxo for Mo.

Lisa said...

Oh, it is the ones that give us the most trouble that we love the best, though, right? I wouldn't be able to sell it after all that!
I just finished a quilt top that I have been struggling with for almost 5 years! I don't know why that one was so hard for me either. I even said almost the same thing you did- my quilt just did not want to be "borned". I can't say I'm done yet as I have to quilt it now, and that is a huge struggle for me, even with an easy quilt. But the top is done, so maybe the quilting will go easily.
I love your springy quilt and think the wavy lines are stunning!

dutchcomfort said...

Your quilt has brought Spring to me! Love the way you explain the process and how you choose the quilting!

...Talking about swearing... the verification code looks a lot like a French curse...

Hey Harriet said...

Oh dear, it sounds like a nightmare! The end result is gorgeous though, so well worth all the drama (& that's easy for me to say because I didn't go through the drama ;) Also your description of the quilt is lovely, and so perfect.

Handy hint: If you're needing to be a guttermouth, just turn the music up really loud & swear away. Your neighbours won't hear you above the noisy tunes. That's what I do :)

Rosebud Collection said...

It is a beautiful work of art..Hey, bet you were doing this during a Mercury retrograde..do and redo, name of Mercury's game..
But it was well worth the effort.

High Desert Diva said...

Well it turned out beautiful...no one would know the trouble it caused you.
(the trouble, by the way, is what happens every time I try to sew, which is why I rarely do...)

I like all the thought you put into the design of your stitches.

please sir said...

Your hardwork paid off - it looks AMAZING V!

Victoria Bennett Beyer said...

Some projects are just like that - everything is hard. But they are the most rewarding, don't you think? It feels SO good to get them done.

Cecile/DreamCreateRepeat said...

Hi! Drawn to visit by your comment today on High Desert Diva's post. Glad I stopped by....what a beautiful quilt. It's nice to hear (or maybe, NOT hear) that someone else curses like a sailor when sewing. I have actually stopped for quite a while, but may yank out the machine again now that spring is lurking around the corner.

Amanda Jean said...

it's gorgeous! i love the bright colors.

picciolo said...

It turned out gorgeous! I just love those colours together, and all your different stitches
: )

bettyninja said...

wonderful! The colors are divine

Anonymous said...

Well, it may have been a pill, but this quilt turned out just lovely! I especially like your description of the meanings of the quilting patterns.

By the way, my favorite sewing non-swear when I just need to yell, but don't actually want to say "bad" words is "STING of a PINCH!" It actually has the same bite as it's euphemistic twin. Try it. You'll like it.

Michelle Engel Bencsko said...

Well, obviously since you made a point of using this quilt as a "how I do it" example, it wanted to challenge you on who was the real boss. I'm glad you both finally worked together to produce yet another stunner.

Karen said...

absolutely beautiful!
and there is quite a bit of profanity going on here too!!

Amy C said...

all the troubles you encountered look like they were well worth it, I love the spring theme, it is totally shouting out spring to me its truly lovely.

Bascom Hogue said...

Hi Victoria,
I enjoyed your commentary on this rather nice quilt.

Abby and Stephanie said...

Well the result is delicious! Hurry spring!

Anonymous said...

Lovely modern design and colors.

Adele said...

Gorgeous! I especially love how you've quilted this one. Looks beautiful. It was worth it! :)

sewtakeahike said...

I'm so glad you were persistant with this quilt because it turned out just fabulous! This is my first time to your blog, I popped over from Sheree's Alchemy and I just added you to my reader! Thank-you for being such an inspiration!

Anonymous said...

Love all the vintage fabric and the different stitching. I had some problems with my last quilt for some reasons too.

Just found you, I'll have to add to google reader.